Premier League 28/29 Dec 2014

[Mr Pink]

Yea definitely. the squad is a mess in terms of balacnce really and we still lack certain personalities and particualr individuals. I'm very happy with our ability to keep winning without playing well, Kane is showing that he has real ability and a knack for just scoring, even at this level, a tremendous trait to have. Bentaleb + Mason have also been much better than expected. Based purely on what I'm seeing now, I can't really say I'm as optimistic as you, but I'm hopeful. I'll be a lot more optimistic when Poch more or less gets the sort of players that he wants. At least from the Everton game he did show he can get a good display out of these players, just nowhere near enough. Although even though a lot on here will disagree, I can't help but think how important Lennon was to that performance.

I totally agree with you, Lennon was pivotal to it. His work rate was exceptional, he completely nullified Baines. And he stretched them, and of course assisted Soldado for the winner.

But its his work rate and his mere presence. Pace panics defenders and disrupts the oppositions shape.

 

[ajspurs]

I totally agree with you, Lennon was pivotal to it. His work rate was exceptional, he completely nullified Baines. And he stretched them, and of course assisted Soldado for the winner.

But its his work rate and his mere presence. Pace panics defenders and disrupts the oppositions shape.

Absolutely, and that in bold is the most important thing for us especially at WHL, so much easier for a team to keep their shape and remain solid when we play with inside wingers at a pretty mediocre pace. I think Lennon is pivotal and in that Everton game he was such a breath of fresh air.

 

[beats1]

Loved that analysis on MNF about defenders showing attackers onto their weak sides.

They showed Aguero vs Kaboul as an example and how Kaboul was wrong to let him onto his right foot. Now they were right, and I don't even really like Kaboul as a defender but it was a tad harsh because I think Aguero is the only player who would have scored like that. Yes it was wrong to show him on that side, but with another player you probably would have had at least a second or 2 more to close the space and actually get tighter, but Aguero shot so quickly, with no backlift and with so much power, it was just incredible really.

I remember watching it and just being like, WTF just happened, that's incredible, was in the back of the net in a flash from a position that I couldn't see a goal coming from!

Yet did they show Aguerro's goal later in the game where Vertonghen showed him on to his wrong foot so its a pointless exercise against someone as good as aguerro

 

[LSUY]

Shelvey has been charged with violent conduct by the FA who have also done sweet FA about Sterling. Embarrassing double standards by the FA.

 

[L-man]

Well done FA, encouraging players to go down needlessly when hit in the face

 

[WalkerboyUK]

FA just proving themselves to be an absolute joke. Mind you, Swansea better off without Shelvey in the team.
Sterling was handbags at dawn, but he still put hand into opponent's face - which warrants a red card. There's no two ways about it, but the FA are pussies.

 

[gushayes11]

I think it was said the officials saw the Sterling incident so nothing more can be done.

 

[Spurger King]

I think it was said the officials saw the Sterling incident so nothing more can be done.

Such a dumb rule. I know it's there in order to not undermine the officials, but if they deserve to be undermined they should suck it up and learn to make better decisions.

 

[EllenAlex]

I think it was said the officials saw the Sterling incident so nothing more can be done.

My main issue with this rule is that it suggests referees and their assistants don't get things wrong. The ref/assistant may have seen the incident and for some reason or another wrongly decided to ignore it.

The introduction of goal line technology to me implies that the governing bodies know match officials make mistakes, so why not give themselves the ability to overrule decisions that are clearly wrong, regardless of what was seen, or unseen.

 

[EllenAlex]

Such a dumb rule. I know it's there in order to not undermine the officials, but if they deserve to be undermined they should suck it up and learn to make better decisions.

Beat me to it. Can't stand the blinkered thinking.

 

[nightgoat]

Shelvey has been charged with violent conduct by the FA who have also done sweet FA about Sterling. Embarrassing double standards by the FA.

Absolute farce.

 

[Syn_13]

My main issue with this rule is that it suggests referees and their assistants don't get things wrong. The ref/assistant may have seen the incident and for some reason or another wrongly decided to ignore it.

The introduction of goal line technology to me implies that the governing bodies know match officials make mistakes, so why not give themselves the ability to overrule decisions that are clearly wrong, regardless of what was seen, or unseen.

Excellently put. The match officials are only human, and thus not infallable. We've seen players get away with leg breakers simply because the ref sees the incident and doesn't think it warrants a card, or even a foul at times. People often say, when defending bad calls resulting in penalties and red cards, that the game happens so quickly and the ref's job is a tough on. Well, it works the other way around too. The game does happen quickly and what initially looks like an innocuous incident could well be a serious one when seen from another angle, or at a slower speed. The FA, and UEFA/FIFA for that matter, need to seriously get with the times and stop being so stubborn.

 

[nightgoat]

Shelvey banned for four matches. Sterling gets away with nothing. Of course Sterling being a Liverpool player had nothing to do with that...